1. Fig. 2. Col IV–Ac2-26 NPs increase subendothelial collagen in Ldlr−/− mice with established atherosclerosis.
Col IV–Ac2-26 NPs increase subendothelial collagen in Ldlr−/− mice with established atherosclerosis. Ldlr−/− mice were fed the Western diet for 12 weeks and then injected intravenously with vehicle, free Ac2-26, or Col IV NPs containing scrambled peptide (Scrm) or Ac2-26 once per week for 5 weeks, with the mice remaining on the diet. (A) Aortic root sections from the indicated groups of mice were stained with picrosirius red. The pair of images from the 17-week Col IV–Scrm NP and Col IV–Ac2-26 NP cohorts (left) shows examples of measuring lines used to measure cap thickness. The microscopic images were quantified by image processing for fibrous cap thickness/lesion area ratio, expressed as arbitrary ratio units (AU) (right). Data are individual mice, with means shown as horizontal lines (n = 8 to 10 separate mice, two sections per mouse). Scale bar, 100 μm. (B) Collagenase activity quantified in aortic root sections using fluorescence microscopy and image processing. Data are individual mice, with means shown as horizontal lines (n = 8 to 10 separate mice, two sections per mouse). (C) RNA from the aortic root lesions of five mice per treatment group was obtained by laser capture microdissection (LCM), pooled, and quantified by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) for Col3a1 mRNA, with normalization to lesional Actb mRNA. Data are means ± SEM. ***P < versus all other groups, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with post hoc Tukey analysis.
Gabrielle Fredman et al., Sci Transl Med 2015;7:275ra20
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